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Contact: Box 1; Tel: 01223 216 297 or hospital extension 2297 (general
enquiries)
Addenbrooke's provides acute neurosurgical services
for all of East Anglia and adjacent parts of other counties, with
a total catchment population of about 2.3 million people. The NCCU
cares for patients with acute brain injury. In these patients, good
intensive care can minimise disability and maximise the potential
for recovery.
Our patients
Approximately 450 patients with neurotrauma are
cared for by the NCCU each year; about a hundred of these patients
have severe head injuries requiring intensive care. These patients
are primarily from all of East Anglia, but also are referred from
other parts of the UK or the rest of the world. Approximately
70% of our patients are admitted as emergency or urgent cases,
typically having head injuries or brain haemorrhage. Other patients
admitted as emergencies have other diagnoses including uncontrolled
epilepsy, stroke, and respiratory failure as a result of diseases
of nerves or muscles. The remaining 30% of admitted patients represent
mostly admissions for postoperative intensive care following major
brain surgery.
The
spacious new Neurosciences Critical Care Unit
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Purpose-built Unit
A major £2.1 million expansion of the Neurosciences
Critical Care Unit (NCCU) at Addenbrooke's was completed in December
2000. The new, purpose-built Unit consists of 21 critical-care
beds. These are being used in a flexible way with other critical-care
units within the Trust, with an anticipated initial allocation
of 11 beds for intensive care and 10 for the high-dependency unit.
Staffing in the Unit
The clinical activities of the NCCU are co-ordinated
by intensive care consultants, who share responsibility for the
management of patients with admitting neurologists and neurosurgeons.
Major clinical input is provided by the Departments of Neuroradiology
and Neurophysiology. The NCCU team is completed by specialist
nurses, scientists, physiotherapists, dieticians and pharmacists.
Working in the NCCU
The NCCU has an important role in the specialist
training of medical and nursing staff. These staff will be involved
in caring for patients with neurotrauma either as specialists
in NCCUs, or in non-specialist centres caring for patients before
they are referred to specialist units.
Research in the NCCU
The NCCU provides the infrastructure for a comprehensive
programme of clinical research. This aims to identify and influence
new treatments in patients with acute brain injury. A major part
of this research involves the Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, which
provides for research into acute brain injury the scanning facilities
for positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI). Addenbrooke's is the only centre in the world with
such facilities. The unit also has close links with the Cambridge
Centre for Brain Repair on the Addenbrooke's site. The synergy
provided by clinical research working alongside patient care means
that management protocols based on research results from our Unit
with the two Centres and other groups can result in substantial
and significant improvements in the outcome of brain injury and
disease.
Key contacts:
On other websites:
For further information contact: The Neurosciences
Critical Care Unit (NCCU), Box 1, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills
Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ; Tel: 01223 216 297; Fax: 01223 216 066.
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